Toll Free Numbers getting through my "Anonymous Block" (2 Viewers)

[MarkHastings]

UGH! WTF!!!!! I got anonymous call blocking to stop the tellemarketers from calling, but now they use the "Toll Free" ID to get through.

What can I do about this??? I'll probably ask my phone co. what they can do, but I was wondering if anyone here had suggestions? If anything, I just need to vent.

A lot of the calls are for donations, but these people are SO DAMN annoying. Everytime I answer, I immediately ask "Is this a sales call" - it's funny because it really throws them off for a second, but they (obviously) say "No" and then go into their pitch. Then I'll tell them I'm not interested and they end their spiel, but this last call was ANNOYING!

The woman went into her speech and when I kept saying "I'm not interested....I don't want to participate....", etc. She just kept TALKING! I said "Please take me off your list....goodbye" and she just kept going on with her speech.

So I just hung up, but WTF???? I mean, I can handle sales calls as long as they are understanding, but this call was just too much for me to handle and now I'm pissed off.

 

[Cees Alons]

Mark,

Are you sure it wasn't a recording?


Cees

 

[MarkHastings]

It wasn't a recording...well, maybe it was when she went into her speech, but when I answered, she asked "May I speak to the lady of the house?" - I said there was no lady at this residence, so then she asked for the man of the house....

When I said I wasn't interested, she went into her speech. Her speech didn't sound recorded because it sounded exactly the same as when I first spoke with her, but who knows.

I talked to AT&T and they said they can't block toll free #'s - They could give me 6 call blocking options, but these calls are from different numbers and I'd definitely use those 6 numbers quickly.

AT&T also said they can't do much about the calls because charity calls don't apply to the "Do Not Call List" :frowning:

The only reccomendation she had was to call the Better Business Beauro.


It's funny, just for kicks, I did a web search for the Toll-Free number. I came up with this page:
http://utterlyboring.com/archives/20..._loopholes.php

The call I recieved was from the Dove foundation and it is the same number from these complaintsMaybe I'll just have to give the BBB a call.

 

[alan halvorson]

I am on the no-call list and that blocks nearly all the telemarketers. But not all. My standard is that if I don't recognize the number or name and the call is not local (small towns like the one I live in makes local calls easy to recognize), I don't answer - I let the call go to the answering machine. If they start to leave a message I may or may not pick it up. Mostly I don't.

Look - you don't have to answer a phone and you don't have to be nice to the caller. They have violated your privacy. Say something if you feel complelled to but just hang up if you don't want to talk to them.

 

[MichaelBA]

I have call-blocking and, yup, it doesn't work too well. Unfortunately, I have no solution, but my aggravation level has been severely reduced since I started answering and then hanging up immediately. Ring ring, I see on the screen it's a telemarketer, I click to answer, I click to hang up. Done. Very satisfying, even if the amount of calls hasn't been reduced at all.

 

[MarkHastings]

I usually don't answer all the Toll Free calls, but they occur so frequently that I figured maybe I should start answering them (and saying I'm not interested) to stop their frequency.

I originally started by answering (I'd hear that silence) and then just hang up, but they always call back, so that didn't work....then I started waiting for them to talk and I'd say "I'm not interested, please take me off your list" and then hang up, but I still get the calls. I figure they are used to people being rude and nasty, so that's why I try not to be too nasty (i.e. it probably doesn't do anything and I just end up getting outraged in the process). I want to do something effective. I'm not sure what that is though. :rolleyes

 

[Patrick Sun]

Lately, I've been getting a lot of mortgage refi calls at my office (from a refi done in 2002), and it's usually from odd area codes that I don't recognize. I let those just ring and ring.

Now for the telemarketers, a fun thing to do is waste their time by answering the call, and then asking them to "hold on" and let them dangle until they get the message. Or just hang up on them if you are expecting a real call.

 

[Bryan X]

If you want to have fun with them just start into a long detailed story about your recent toe fungus or something similar. Don't let them get a word in.

 

[MarkHastings]

Yeah, after I hung up, I immediately thought that I should have just set the phone down and let the woman figure out where I was.


Oooo! Here's a good one! I've always wished I had the balls to do this....I want to answer and start yelling "He's in the HOUSE! He's coming at me with a knife! QUICK! Call 911!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and then hang up.

 

[Patrick Sun]

You could also ask them highly inappropriate personal questions.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I always tell them I'm very interested in their product but now is not a good time. Then I ask for their home phone number and tell them I'll call them some evening or weekend when it is convenient for me. So far I haven't had any takers.

Regards,

Joe

 

[MarkHastings]

How about asking if you can pay in clam shells?.......EMPTY clam shells!

 

[Linda Thompson]

A friend of mine used to amuse himself with these types of calls... As soon as he determined that it was a telemarketer, he'd start singing. Usually something simple like "Happy Birthday" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" or the Alphabet Song (same tune as TTLS), but sometimes he'd really go all out and try to get the telemarketer into a round of "Row Row Row Your Boat"... Extra points for LOUD and OFF-KEY... He actually had a few telemarketers hang up on HIM.

I think he totally blew one telemarketer's mind with his impromptu rendition of "InAGaddaDaVida"...

He doesn't get nearly as many calls as he used to. Not sure if it's from joining the Do No Call list or from his battle tactics.

 

[Dave_Brown]

My younger sister found a new weapon in her war against the tele-marketers. She will answer the phone but as soon as they start the spiel she will hand the phone to her two year old daughter who LOVES to talk on the phone about everything and nothing. It doesn't lower the volume, but it does keep her kid entertained for 5-10 minutes at a time as they keep asking to speak to her mommy.

 

[James Lee]

Ah yes! The hand-the-phone-to-your-two-year-old-trick! I started do that as well. Whenever a telemarketer calls, I hand the phone over to my 2 year old daughter and I just sit back and laugh at the "conversation". My kid will say the most random things too:

"Hi, I'm watching Dragon Tales!"

"Can I have some milk?"

"Hello.......hi......where's mommy?"

"I'm playing with tiny wonderful things!"

After the telemarketer hangs up, my daughter will hand the phone back to me and say "that's not mommy". LOL! Indeed!

 

[MarkHastings]

LOL - that's great!

 

[Zen Butler]

Can I borrow a 2 year old? That's hilarious!

 

[Jeff Savage]

This depends on your phone service of course but I get free call transfers with my service so my favorite trick is the following:

Be very nice and courteous and say hold please I will transfer you to the Master of the House and then use the transfer function to dump the call into your favorite customer service queue (my favorites are the Cable Company and the Telephone Company). Somehow I get a little smile on my face whenever I do this.

Laters,
Jeff

 

[DeanR]

If I don't recognize a number I don't answer the phone. No problem.

 

[MarkHastings]

But when you pay for Annonymous call blocking, it's frustrating for 'sales' calls to still get through.

What frustrates me is, I've been so used to the call blocking working that whenever the phone rings, I know it's a friend or family member. So when I'm in the middle of doing something and I RUN to grab the phone (thinking it's someone I know), it pisses me off that it's a sales call.